Listening Partnerships with Emilie Leeks When we first encountered Hand in Hand Parenting, we were struck not only by the non-judgemental, meet-you-where-you-are tone, but also by the practical ideas offered through the Listening Tools. Four of the five tools are aimed at the parent-child interaction, but the fifth tool, Listening Partnerships, is specifically for adults to use
Dear Hand in Hand, “I’ve heard a lot about the parent listening tool, Listening Partnerships, but what makes them so different to the good, easy chats I have with my friends about parenting? I have one friend that I met when we were both pregnant, and our children have grown up together. We share and
As parents, we devote our time to the care and well-being of others. We hear a lot about self-care, about why it’s important to take timeouts for ourselves, or about how being mindful and calm can help us in our parenting journey. We want to be calm, to find patience, to reduce our parenting struggles,
A Guest Post by By Emilie Leeks Our four-year-old daughter had a growing tendency to be very melodramatic around ‘pain’. If she was in a certain kind of mood and just got touched or gently bumped, she would whine and start to cry, repeatedly saying things like ‘Ow! You have to rub it.’ At times she
Traditionally in classrooms, teachers talk and children listen. While curriculums are updating to include self-directed learning, children in many classrooms may still feel unheard, and if they have worries or concerns outside of learning – peer pressure or bullying, test anxiety, or issues from home that affect them in school – there seems little place
I was chatting with a friend that has recently taken a Hand in Hand course of mine. She commented that since doing the course she feels like I am an extra voice in her head, and that i’m always in there, commenting on her parenting! We laughed, but I recalled something like the same experience. I
My daughter was a very capable girl at eight years old. She was smart, strong, clever, and so resourceful. But at the same time, she sometimes acted helplessly. As a single parent, it would drive me crazy when she needed help with the most basic of things. Sometimes, she would demand that I help her
I have a weekly appointment with a Listening Partner and I know that this scheduled time helps me work deeply on topics that feel heavy to me in my family life. But it happens quite regularly that during a week various different situations might awaken strong feelings and I feel a great amount of parenting stress.
Listening Time There’s nothing like raising kids to bring tension into a family. Right from pregnancy it can seem like every decision you make comes under scrutiny, and then feeding, sleeping, schooling, behavior and discipline draw opinions and comparisons. Straying from the parenting path your parents used to raise you can bring up all
My kids were with their grandparents and I was spending time with my husband. We were relaxed and talking and everything felt perfect until he mentioned the upcoming marriage of someone that is close to us. At some point I heard him say that if he were that age again he would probably not choose
By Lauren Stearns Last year when my son entered 7th grade it seemed like EVERYTHING changed. The connection that I had worked so hard to build with him using Hand in Hand Tools felt broken. I couldn’t tell if it was him or it was me, but all we seemed to do was lock horns.
A pair of Listening Partners, we’ll call them Emma and Carol, had been living 2500 miles on opposite coasts for several years now. Carol finds her middle child, Cammy, deeply challenging. During Carol’s last two months of pregnancy and the first few months of Cammy’s life, their family was suddenly without a place to live—a
“Play with me?” That one question is asked at least 100 times a day in most houses, by kids to their parents. Time and time again we hear that play improves connections. Greys Anatomy-creator (and former workaholic) Shonda Rhimes did a whole Ted Talk on how play impacted her life as a parent. Larry Cohen has two
Most of us are taught to hush children when they cry, but parents using Hand in Hand’s approach learn how valuable crying can be for a child’s emotional health. When crying is supported with a parent’s warm support and attention, crying can be a unique way for children to unblock fears and uncertainties, but there
“I have come to believe that caring for myself is not self indulgent. Caring for myself is an act of survival. – Audre Lorde When parents learn about Hand in Hand’s five Listening Tools they are soon amazed by the transformations. Parents start spending Special Time with their children and they learn how to play. They
By Sarah Charlton We had just returned from a big family wedding in another part of the country and even though it had been a really good trip, we hadn’t had a lot of connection time to ourselves. We were feeling tired, so getting my son off to school the following morning had been fraught
What is Hand in Hand Parenting?: Day 6 You’ve seen your children release their feelings of hurt and tension. They’re naturals! The minute something challenging happens, they dive right in to expel the tension. With a Listening Partnership, it’s your turn. So, What is a Listening Partnership? Listening Partnerships are simple to do. You choose someone
I had been parenting my daughter for 5 years and stay listening with her for 3 years before I realized the importance of being listened to myself. During this time, I noticed a common trigger. My older daughter’s tendency to take things out of other people’s hands, especially her younger sister’s and mine, caused me to